Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia aims to add 20 gigawatts of renewable energy annually to reach 130 gigawatts of renewable energy before 2030.

In his opening speech at the Saudi Smart Grid Conference 2023 in Riyadh on Tuesday, the minister said that Saudi Arabia is ready to export up to 150 gigawatts of green electricity or hydrogen. Prince Abdulaziz said that the Kingdom is implementing more than 80 initiatives in the public and private sectors with investments worth more than SR705 billion ($188 billion) to build a more sustainable future for all.

The Kingdom is moving steadily towards achieving its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030. The Kingdom aims to reach the optimal energy mix for electricity production of approximately 50 percent natural gas and 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, which will contribute to replacing up to one million barrels of equivalent liquid fuel currently used.

The minister said earlier that Saudi Arabia has more than doubled its renewable energy production capacity from 700 MW last year to over 2.2 GW, with more than 8 GW and 13 GW of renewable energy under development. It also plans to tender around 20 GW in 2024 and become a key source of green hydrogen.

Since 2022, the Kingdom has witnessed linking renewable energy projects with a capacity of 2,100 megawatts to the national electricity grid, bringing the total capacity of used renewable energy sources to 2,800 megawatts, which is enough to supply more than 520,000 homes with electrical energy. This achievement represents a 300 percent increase in total capacity, and an important step that highlights the continued progress the Kingdom is witnessing in accelerating the transformation process in the energy sector